New Delhi: The Gujarat Congress on Friday said it is concerned over the recent provocative remarks of senior party leader Hardik Patel, who praised the ruling BJP. Though Hardik clarified soon after that he had only mentioned the “organizational strength and quick decision making in the BJP” to make a point and was “not in touch with the saffron party”, the young leader’s comments created a flutter in the Gujarat Congress. “Hardik’s comments have raised suspicion. We are concerned over his public statements and have briefed AICC in charge of Gujarat Raghu Sharma and AICC general secretary in charge of Organization KC Venugopal about the developments,” senior Gujarat Congress leader Siddhartha Patel told ETV Bharat.
When asked if he feared that Hardik might be planning to join the BJP or the AAP, which has been trying to make inroads in the western state, Siddharth Patel refused to answer. “I don’t want to speculate on this issue,” he said. However, his guarded response quite explained the concern that the young Patel leader has created in the state unit. Hardik, who got a reprieve in a riot case from the Supreme Court recently, addressed a presser in Ahmedabad, where he expressed his frustration at not being allowed to work by the party colleagues.
Hardik further said that he had broached the issue with Rahul Gandhi, who had inducted him into the Congress, but still, the issue of non-cooperation persisted. When asked about the remarks, Gujarat Congress chief Jagdish Thakor had told ETV Bharat last week that he had discussed the issue with Hardik and that the situation was normal. However, a day after Hardik’s public praise for the BJP, the state Congress unit was of the opinion that expressing discontent in public may harm the opposition party’s attempts to take on the BJP in the assembly polls later this year.
“If Hardik has an issue, he can discuss it within the party. It doesn’t sound real when he says that his colleagues are not letting him work. He is a working president of the Gujarat Congress. He should go and do his work rather than make public allegations,” said Siddhartha Patel.
Hardik had shot into fame when he led the movement for quota for his Patel community in education and jobs as a teenager. Later, he was roped in by Congress to boost the party’s prospects in the western state. Hardik also played a role in the induction of activist and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who was arrested by the Assam police on Thursday over a tweet on PM Modi. Though the Congress came out in defense of Mevani, it seems the young Patel leader has not been received well by the veterans in the grand old party.
READ: Supreme Court stays Hardik Patel's two years sentence in rioting case
